GALLERY
The New York Stage
- In 1900 New York supported no less than thirty reputable theaters, making it far and away the leading city for the dramatic arts in America. This period was marked by important changes within the theater industry. Electricity’s introduction at the Lyceum Theater in 1885 ushered in a new era, as did innovations in set design and methods of acting. Also important to the theater’s growth was the revolution then unfolding in the larger world of celebrity culture. Big-name stars had long dominated the New York stage; however, the proliferation of illustrated publications only heightened their
- profile further. Ben-Yusuf was among those who took advantage of the demand for portraits, and reproductions of her images appeared regularly in newspapers and magazines. Yet, unlike many commercial photographers, Ben-Yusuf created likenesses that captured a subject’s individuality in a style that was modern, not melodramatic.
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New York as Crossroads
